Jade Gresham will run out for his 15^th game on Saturday night as he continues to emerge as one of the more exciting first-year players in the AFL. At the other end of Etihad Stadium, a player will run out for the 427^th time, eclipsing an all-time record that appeared unlikely to ever be broken.

His name is of course Brent Harvey and his path has crossed with Gresham’s for a long, long time. The North Melbourne champion, who will pass Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck as the games record holder, played with Gresham’s father, Jamie, at the Northern Knights in 1994 and 1995, starting a friendship that still stands today.

So astounding is Harvey’s achievement that when he debuted in 1996, Gresham wasn’t even born yet. And by the time Gresham’s name was read out by St Kilda at pick No. 18 in last year’s National Draft, Harvey had already passed the 400-game barrier, joining Dustin Fletcher, Kevin Bartlett and Tuck in rare territory.

Ahead of this weekend’s iconic game, Gresham admits he didn’t think too much about the potential of being involved in the fixture when he saw the two sides were scheduled to meet. But now, he is thrilled to be part of a special occasion for the game.

"At the start of the year I saw it was against us. I didn't really think about it too much, but now sort of thinking about it so it should be good. It's going to be good to be part of it. But I'll focused on our boys hopefully getting the win," Gresham told The Age.

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The further Gresham’s underage career progressed, the more the classy midfielder-forward leaned on his Dad’s friendship with Harvey for advice. He tried to absorb as much as he could from the five-time best and fairest winner, picking his brains on how best to prepare and how to cope with pressure.

Even now, the pair exchanges messages and phone calls, with Gresham still keen to acquire as much information as possible from a player who moves as well as someone half his age. Although, Gresham expects there to be no favours come Saturday night.

"I might give him a message or a call but once we're on the field he gets into me a bit so I guess I'll give it back to him!” Gresham said.

With St Kilda amid a three-game winning streak and making a late bid for September, Gresham says the side’s confidence is building, but they must not look too far ahead or they’ll trip over what’s in front of them.

"I guess there's a bit of confidence growing. But we can't get too ahead of ourselves. We've got to take it week by week,” he said.

"[I'm] looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can bring this form into next week."

Since earning the Round 14 Rising Star nomination following his effort against Geelong, Gresham has taken his game to another level. Across the last month he has averaged 18.3 possessions (seven contested), 34.7 pressure points (9^th at St Kilda) and 3.3 inside 50s.